Courses

Education

Ph.D., Manship School of Mass Communication and Public Affairs at Louisiana State University

M.A., Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Iowa

Research

Research interests include construction of reality within television news, how it affects groups such as American Indians, political science, science communication, and emerging media. She is a co-author in an upcoming book titled, Oil and Water: Media Lessons from Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster

BIO

Dr. Victoria LaPoe received her Ph.D. from the Manship School of Mass Communication and Public Affairs at Louisiana State University. While working on her degree, Victoria taught broadcasting and media research in the Manship School and was program coordinator for the high school journalism institute.

Victoria is also the Editor in American Indian studies for the national Media Diversity Forum and is a member of the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA).

She is co-author of the books “Oil and Water: Media Lessons from Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon Disaster” and “Indian Country: Telling a Story in a Digital Age.”

Victoria has been published in academic journals such as Communication Research, Electronic News and Visual Communication Quarterly. Recently she was a co-author on a top faculty research paper in the visual communication division of the International Communication Association (London, England) on Visual Agenda-Setting, Emotion, & the BP Oil Disaster. She also received a Unity fellowship to enhance media diversity and the Broadcasting Education Association’s Vincent T. Wasilewski Award for excellence in broadcast journalism. Victoria serves on WKU’s Minority Assistantship Advisory Council. She started and is the advisor of WKU’s Native American Student Group.

She is an award-winning journalist who worked in television news for over thirteen years including at a station in Louisville, Kentucky. She was a client strategist for two of the top television consultation firms for over six years; here she developed coverage and strategy plans for over 100 stations in the United States as well as networks in England, Ireland, France, Greece, Italy and Spain. While working in research and consultation, she also conducted research for the Pentagon, Department of Defense, Air Force and Army.

Victoria is bilingual and earned her M.A. and B.A. in journalism and mass communication from the University of Iowa as well as a B.A. in theatre arts. Victoria's research interests include construction of reality within television news, how it affects groups such as American Indians, political science, science communication, and emerging media.

Victoria is from Louisville, and she is excited to get back to her home state, where she grew up understanding the passion towards WKU’s broadcast program.